Page 9 - Devon Reid News Today

Good Sunday morning, Evanston. Here's a recap of the week's most widely read stories, plus a few new ones as well.

City Council adopted an ordinance Monday that will require employers to give workers a two-week notice of schedule changes and compensate them if any changes occur after. The ordinance, called Evanston’s Fair Workweek Ordinance, covers restaurants and food service businesses with at least 200 employees and 30 locations globally. It also applies to all other...

City Council voted unanimously to approve a complete ban on plastic bags and a tax on other single-use carryout bags Monday. Both the tax and the ban will go into effect Aug. 1.  The ordinance contains several changes from its first appearance before the council in January. It now includes a 10-cent tax — a...

City Council directed city staff to gather new proposals to renovate the Harley Clarke Mansion on Monday. The rundown landmark’s future has been uncertain since mid January, when educational nonprofit Artists Book House pulled out of a lease agreement with the city. The organization was meant to occupy the building for 40 years. The organization...

The Redistricting Committee voted unanimously to recommend a new ward map to City Council on Tuesday night. The proposed map would impact about 4,000 residents’ ward placements and significantly reduce current differences in population between wards. The council will vote on whether to approve the map June 12. If approved, the changes would be implemented...

City Council voted Monday to approve a special use permit for Connections for the Homeless to operate a rooming house at the Margarita Inn. Connections, an Evanston-based nonprofit, has been offering housing services to individuals experiencing houselessness at the five-story residential building on Oak Avenue since March 2020. Following the city’s decision in March 2022...

The new tax will go into effect on August 1 with 10 cents added per disposable bag used. The bag fee will not apply to restaurants, non-chain store organizations, retailers with less than 10,000 square feet and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants.

The Housing and Community Development Committee discussed several proposed updates to Evanston’s Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance on Tuesday. The proposed updates include requirements to clarify up-front costs for rentals — such as application fees, move-in fees and security deposits — disclose utility costs and provide tenants with the first right of refusal, which means the...

City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve special use permits for Evanston’s second cannabis dispensary and a bakery on Chicago Avenue in South Evanston. The two independent businesses, OKAY Cannabis and West Town Bakery, will form a joint dispensary and bakery on the ground floor of the new Evanston Gateway apartment complex at 100 Chicago...

City Council voted to introduce a single-use bag tax and a Fair Workweek ordinance Monday.  The single-use bag tax ordinance first came before the council in January, but several councilmembers voiced concerns about the tax’s negative economic impact on small businesses. The council then voted to refer the ordinance back to the Human Services Committee....